At present, containers for medical products such as glass syringes are packed by the manufacturers in a form known as a “nest” and are supplied in sterile conditions. Supplying syringes in a “nest” format means supplying syringes which have been packaged on a plastic tray comprising mainly a support plate, known hereinafter as a nest tray, which is formed by a matrix of openings, with each of these openings supporting a syringe. This nest tray is typically supported by a plastic box known hereinafter as a nest box, which protects the syringes (see for example the product HYPAK® SCF®, Becton, Dickinson and Company of Franklin Lakes, N.J., USA). In addition, this packaging unit is covered by a cap, it is bagged, and is then ready for sterilization.
When the syringes are supplied in “nest” format to a pharmaceutical company, they must be handled in order to be filled one by one. After having removed the bag and the cap from each packaging unit manually, or by means of automated equipment, each nest tray is removed from its corresponding nest box, and the syringes are then filled one by one, line by line, or by series of several items. After the filling stage, it is necessary firstly to label each syringe for the purpose of defining the medical product contained, and secondly to inspect the syringes in order to detect any contamination of the product, as well as any cracks or scratches in the syringes. Other operations may be required, such as, for example, the addition of needle protectors or piston rods. The inspection is conventionally carried out by means of a system of optical sensors (or a camera) which inspect the syringes one by one. However, according to the habitual practice and for reasons of technical limitations (quantity of syringes, difficulties with labeling and/or inspecting the syringes placed in the central part of the nest tray, etc.), the syringes are firstly removed from the nest tray before being labeled and/or checked. Thus, when the syringes are finally labeled and/or checked, they are then again handled and stored, either directly in the nest box, without being stored on the nest tray, or in a different support, known hereinafter as a comb tray (see document U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,595 described hereinafter), which has multiple elongate fingers in order to keep the syringes suspended by their collars. It should be noted that after the labeling and/or inspection, the syringes are no longer reinserted in the nest tray, because it is more efficient and easier to store them in the comb tray which is purchased separately. A packaging unit of the nest type such as the product HYPAK® SCF®, is therefore not suitable for automated handling, since it requires complex machines. In addition, within the context of semi-automatic handling (with human assistance), it is difficult to exceed rates of more than 6000 syringes per hour. However, although on the one hand comb trays are preferable to nest trays for faster and easier storage of the syringes, on the other hand they are not suitable for the transport and storage of the syringes. In fact, when the comb trays are stored on one another in vertical columns, certain parts of the syringes are liable to be damaged or broken, because of their direct contact with the underneath of the packaging unit placed above. In order to avoid this problem, the comb trays must be placed in specific additional boxes, and provided with covers with an inner locking rim.
Specific boxes in which medical containers are arranged are known in the art, but, because of their structure, these are not suitable for all the automated steps of the production chain. Thus, a box with a structure which is too flexible and not rigid enough will for example prevent the satisfactory efficiency of a step of palletizing or de-palletizing, since these steps will be difficult for an automated system to handle.
Several sterilization modes are commonly used in order to treat the containers before they are filled, i.e. sterilization by steam, sterilization by a gas such as ETO, and sterilization by means of ionizing radiation. For sterilization by steam, it is necessary to overturn the containers, such that the condensation water which would be deposited inside the container can flow by means of gravity. During sterilization by ETO gas, it is also necessary to be able to overturn the containers in order to assist the discharge of residues of ETO gas, which is heavier than air. It is therefore necessary to provide means which retain the containers in their nest tray, in the overturned position.
The rules concerning safety of medical products require the presence of particles or dust to be reduced as far as possible. In known systems, friction between various components of the box during transport or storage can give rise to the creation of particles of this type. The rules also make it necessary to prevent the containers from being scratched or made fragile during impacts. It is also desirable to avoid human handling and even the presence of human operators in the vicinity of the containers during production. To summarize, the objective with packaging units for storage and transport is to protect the syringe against any damage or contamination during industrial operations of production, transport and/or storage.